BRAZIL | Temer accused of heading " a criminal organization"

Brazilian President Michel Temer is "the head of the most dangerous criminal organization in the country," said prominent businessman Joesley Batista in an extensive interview published Saturday in the weekly newspaper Época.

The 44-year-old, who owns the cold-storage giant JBS, unleashed a political earthquake in mid-May by making a recording available in which Temer seems to agree to pay for the silence of an ex-deputy who is in prison.

These revelations led the Supreme Court to authorize the opening of an investigation against the president for corruption and obstruction of justice.

Since that time, the calls to resign have multiplied, but Temer, 76, denies the allegations and categorically refuses to leave power.

Batista agreed to collaborate with authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence.

In his explosive confessions, Batista revealed that tens of millions of dollars were paid in bribes to politicians, including the PMDB, of which Temer is a member.

"Since I met Temer, he started asking me for money to fund his campaigns. He does not have many ceremonies to deal with that issue," Batista said in the interview.

"We never had a relationship of friendship. It was always an institutional relationship...He saw me as an entrepreneur who could finance his campaigns and organize schemes that would lead to bribes," he said.